The adoption of hybrid architectures in regulated environments has evolved from a choice limited to a few pioneers to a strategic business decision in recent years. In this context, large companies face the challenge of balancing innovation and compliance, combining the flexibility of the cloud with the need for control, security, and data sovereignty.

More than a technical configuration, hybrid architecture should be understood as an ecosystem encompassing technology, people, processes, and governance. To explore the myths, truths, and strategies surrounding this topic in depth, we invited Andre Frauches, Head of Alliances at heimr, who shares his vision and experience throughout this article on structuring compliance-ready hybrid setups.

Why the Topic Has Gained Relevance

The rise in regulatory demands, the acceleration of digital transformation, and the pressure to reduce costs have created the perfect conditions for hybrid models to become central in infrastructure discussions. Sectors such as finance, healthcare, telecommunications, government, and energy are among those most pressed to balance scalability and innovation with compliance, security, and continuity.

For Frauches, hybrid architecture directly addresses this need for reconciliation. “It’s about leveraging the scale of the cloud while ensuring low latency, data control, and sovereignty requirements in specific locations,” he states.

Myths and Truths About Hybrid Architectures

As a prominent topic, hybrid architecture is also subject to misconceptions. Some of the most common include:

• “Hybrid automatically ensures compliance.” Myth. Compliance doesn’t come from the architecture itself but from processes, evidence, and ongoing governance.
• “Public cloud is less secure than on-premises.” False. Security depends on configuration, operation, and governance, and major providers offer extremely robust controls.
• “It’s impossible to certify a hybrid environment.” False. Certifications like ISO 27001 and SOC 2 are entirely achievable, provided controls are implemented across all domains.
• “Hybrid is always more expensive.” Partially true. Integration can increase costs, but a well-designed setup, combining sensitive workloads on-premises and peak demands in the cloud, tends to reduce the total cost of ownership.

The key takeaway is that hybrid architecture does not eliminate the need for governance; on the contrary, it makes governance even more critical.

Complexity and Governance: The Real Challenges

There’s no doubt that hybrid setups increase complexity. Organizations must manage distributed data, audits across multiple environments, integration of diverse platforms, and identity and access management. Additionally, cultural barriers, resistance to change, and the need for multidisciplinary teams capable of navigating security, innovation, and compliance pose further challenges.

In this regard, organizational culture is decisive. As Frauches notes, “A culture that values governance, automation, and collaboration facilitates adaptation. Investing in training and building multidisciplinary teams is essential to sustain the model.”

The Pitfalls of “Compliance at All Costs”

Another recurring risk is prioritizing compliance above everything else, sacrificing agility, user experience, and operational efficiency. This is a mistake that can turn compliance into an obstacle.

“Balance is fundamental,” Frauches emphasizes. “Compliance must be pursued without losing sight of the end customer, innovation, and efficiency.”

Technical Pillars of a Compliance-Ready Hybrid Architecture

For the strategy to succeed, certain technical elements are indispensable:

• Unified Identity and Access Management (IAM) with strong authentication and granular controls.
• Data encryption in transit and at rest, meeting regulatory requirements.
• Network segmentation and secure connectivity, ensuring resilience.
• Centralized logging and monitoring, guaranteeing traceability and auditability.
• Automation and infrastructure as code, for consistency, standardization, and traceability.
• Audit and incident management tools aligned with local and international standards.

These pillars provide the foundation for an auditable, secure operation tailored to regulatory needs.

Essential Standards and Frameworks

Hybrid environments in regulated sectors cannot ignore recognized standards. In Brazil, key regulations include LGPD (General Data Protection Law), ISO/IEC 27001 (information security), ISO/IEC 27701 (privacy), as well as SOC 2 and SOC 3 for service trust. Globally, frameworks like the NIST Cybersecurity Framework and regulations such as DORA in the UK further increase rigor.

The message is clear: without adherence to standards, there is no trust.

Diagnosis and Preparation: Before Adopting Hybrid

No organization should adopt a hybrid model without a prior diagnosis. It’s necessary to map data classification, latency requirements, operational costs, and technological maturity.

From there, a migration strategy can be designed, starting with infrastructure adaptation and progressing to the modernization of critical applications through containerization and refactoring.

The Future of Regulated Hybrid Architecture

Trends indicate that hybrid architecture will become the dominant standard in regulated sectors. The demand for flexibility, sovereignty, and compliance will continue to grow alongside increasingly stringent and sector-specific regulations.

Frauches notes that new pressures are already on the horizon: regulations around Artificial Intelligence, sustainability requirements in IT, and the adoption of emerging technologies such as confidential computing, edge computing, compliance automation, and blockchain for traceability.

Hybrid Architecture: Clarity, Balance, and Strategy

Hybrid architecture in regulated environments is neither an automatic solution nor an insurmountable challenge. Above all, it is a strategic project of balance: between innovation and control, compliance and efficiency, security and customer experience.

As Frauches summarizes: “Compliance must be integrated intelligently, balancing security, agility, and innovation to support strategic objectives and business needs.”

Ultimately, the value of hybrid architecture lies not only in its technical configuration but in its ability to create a reliable, flexible ecosystem ready to support growth, even in the face of the most stringent regulatory demands.

• Projected investment for the first 24 months of the project is approximately R$40 million, marking a complete overhaul of the client’s critical infrastructure
• New operation delivers high availability for millions of daily transactions across more than 15 countries
• Project accelerates regulatory compliance and strengthens the partnership between heimr and IBM

São Paulo, June 2025 – A leading fintech headquartered in London, with a strong presence in over 15 European Union countries, recently completed one of the most ambitious technological infrastructure transformation projects in the sector. Led by heimr, the initiative involved a complete migration of operations to the IBM Cloud, focusing on high availability, scalability, and regulatory compliance. The new environment was designed to support millions of daily transactions and sustain the company’s accelerated growth in the coming years.

The overhaul replaced a centralized architecture with a multiregional model distributed across three countries, with data centers in Frankfurt, Amsterdam, and London. The project, executed in phases, included establishing a disaster recovery environment, transferring production systems, and consolidating a simultaneous operational structure across multiple regions.

According to the client’s IT Director, the project was critical to ensuring the infrastructure could keep pace with the company’s expansion. “We needed a model capable of supporting business growth with continuous availability and full compliance with the regulatory requirements of the countries where we operate,” the executive stated.

With an estimated investment of R$40 million over the first 24 months, the project encompasses the complete structuring of the new multiregional environment, heimr’s specialized services, and the adoption of IBM Cloud as the primary platform for supporting critical systems.

Multiregional Architecture

Before the overhaul, the client’s critical infrastructure was concentrated in a single physical data center in Iceland. Beyond connectivity limitations and its distance from Europe’s main financial hubs, the company faced operational and regulatory challenges due to a lack of redundancy and the technical complexity of the environment. The infrastructure relied on technologies such as IBM i Series, IBM AIX, and VMware within the same ecosystem, which hindered interventions and made previous migration attempts unfeasible. Additionally, the data center’s proximity to one of Iceland’s most active volcanoes heightened the risks of a centralized infrastructure and underscored the project’s criticality.

The implementation of the new architecture was carried out in three phases, starting in February 2024. In the first phase, completed in July, heimr established a Disaster Recovery environment on IBM Cloud, based in Frankfurt. This provided the client with an alternative instance capable of taking over operations in case of a failure at the original data center. The second phase, finalized in January 2025, migrated all production systems to the cloud, prioritizing performance and resilience. The final phase, completed in May, established a multiregional high-availability model with multiple data centers operating simultaneously, eliminating the traditional concept of contingency and elevating operational continuity.

“The client needed a solution that combined rapid implementation with a high level of technical expertise, given the infrastructure’s complexity and the regulatory requirements involved. We structured a phased project that ensured business continuity from the start without compromising operations at any point,” said heimr’s CEO, Wagner Hiendlmayer.

The restructured infrastructure now supports not only client-facing systems, such as payment processing, card issuance, corporate accounts, and reservation management, but also all internal organizational functions. The current operation serves approximately 1,000 employees and supports over 300,000 commercial establishments, ensuring millions of daily transactions with speed, stability, and security.

With the new model, the client now meets the metrics required by certifications like PCI DSS and regulations such as DORA, while also complying with guidelines from entities like EBA, EIOPA, ESMA, and Íslandsbanki. The company has also gained greater efficiency in audits and compliance processes, achieving predictability and a robust structure to operate securely in various regulated markets.

“IBM Cloud was designed to offer native security, control, and compliance for financial institutions. This structure enables companies to advance their modernization journey with confidence, even when operating with sensitive workloads under stringent regulations,” said Thiago Videira, Head of IBM Public Cloud Latin America.

Technical Execution Led by heimr

Responsible for the project’s technical execution, heimr structured the migration with a focus on service continuity and respect for the client’s unique environment. To achieve this, they adopted a phased approach with constant workload monitoring and validation at each transition stage, ensuring operations were never disrupted.

According to the client’s executive, the partnership with heimr was pivotal to the project’s success. “Heimr’s expertise with critical environments was essential to ensuring the migration occurred without impacting our services. The joint efforts of the teams enabled quick decisions, efficient coordination, and a level of integration that exceeded our expectations,” explained the IT Director.

Heimr deployed a bilingual, specialized team operating 24/7 in a follow-the-sun model, leveraging its extensive experience in critical environments and tailor-made solutions. Its work was supported by international security certifications, such as ISO 27001 and NIST, and its status as an IBM Platinum Partner, which accelerated integration with the platform and ensured the solution’s technical compliance.

“Our approach was based on a strategic partnership model, with 24/7 support across multiple time zones and bilingual assistance. This structure, combined with our deep expertise in IBM technologies and our security certifications, was decisive in helping the client achieve a new level of resilience and operational availability,” added Hiendlmayer.

With the new infrastructure operational, heimr and the client are already exploring further collaboration on additional innovation fronts. Initiatives under consideration include applying FinOps for operational efficiency, adopting Quantum Safe technologies for cryptographic protection in the quantum computing era, and developing AI and automation solutions for strategic data and process management.

About heimr

With a presence in Brazil and Europe, heimr has offices in London and São Paulo, operating globally as a boutique technology firm specializing in tailored solutions for business continuity. The company provides strategic services in infrastructure, data, security, automation, and governance, focusing on high performance, availability, and compliance with international standards. In addition to a comprehensive portfolio of cutting-edge solutions, heimr boasts a highly specialized team and strategic partnerships with IBM, Microsoft, SAP, RedHat, and other global companies, delivering customized projects for critical corporate environments, helping businesses overcome technological challenges with efficiency and security.

In recent years, digital maturity has evolved from being merely an indicator of technological advancement to becoming a structural foundation for strategic decision-making within organizations. What defines a digitally mature company is not just the adoption of technological tools but a comprehensive transformation of its processes, system integration, and data governance structure. This enables the company to operate efficiently, securely, and in a data-driven manner. Such a robust framework not only ensures a reliable operational base but also enables predictive analytics that inform strategic decisions based on historical market and consumer behavior.

Tool Adoption Is Not Maturity—It’s Part of the Journey

During and after the pandemic, the number of Brazilian companies advancing in digitalization increased significantly. According to a survey conducted by Opinion Box in partnership with Ploomes, 68% of B2B companies have become more digital since the start of the pandemic, with 61% considering themselves to have a high or very high level of digital maturity.

However, merely adopting tools does not guarantee that maturity has been achieved. These tools must be aligned with structured and integrated processes so that data can be used strategically to generate value and guide decisions.

The latest edition of the Brazil Digital Transformation Index, developed by PwC in partnership with Fundação Dom Cabral, reinforces this perspective. The average digital maturity score of Brazilian companies rose from 3.3 to 3.7 on a scale of 1 to 6. While progress is evident, the study highlights that many organizations still face structural challenges, particularly in data integration and establishing effective governance. A company’s most valuable asset today is its data legacy, and how this data is managed, organized, and transformed into actionable insights is critical.

The Role of Generative AI in This Equation

In this context, Generative AI emerges as a significant component of the digital journey. It is already being applied in areas such as customer service (SAC and technical support), human resources, training, data analysis, and predictive behavior modeling. AI can transform historical data into strategic insights.

A recent Bain & Company survey shows that 25% of Brazilian companies are already using Generative AI in some capacity, more than double the percentage from the previous year. Additionally, 67% of the surveyed organizations rank the technology among their top five strategic priorities for 2025. These figures demonstrate that Generative AI is becoming a core element of digital transformation in companies.

However, its use requires caution. Risks primarily stem from a lack of data governance, including inaccurate responses, discriminatory biases, and privacy issues as consequences of poorly structured implementations. Thus, integrating Generative AI into a company’s structure is part of the final stage of digital maturity, where systems not only automate but also understand contexts and interact with greater naturalness and precision. Generative AI represents a qualitative leap compared to early chatbot models due to its synthesis capabilities and cognitive interaction.

Structure, Culture, and Strategy Are the Pillars of Transformation

For a company to truly advance in its digital maturity journey, more than just technology investments are required. This process demands simultaneous efforts across four key fronts: a resilient and high-availability technological infrastructure to support digitized processes; the review and restructuring of internal processes, focusing on agility and operational flow integration; clear definition of objectives and a digital strategy aligned across all areas; and continuous team training, accompanied by a genuine shift in organizational culture.

As tools and solutions are incorporated, new possibilities for data extraction and analysis emerge, fueling further digital transformation. The result is a more agile, efficient, and strategic model.

The Growing Interdependence Between ESG and Data

Digitally mature companies also demonstrate a greater ability to comply with practices, particularly those related to the ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) agenda. This is due to organized and readily available data. Carbon emissions monitoring, resource usage, social risks, and governance practices can be tracked and adjusted more accurately in a well-structured digital environment.

In this process, strategic partners like heimr play a crucial role. The company supports clients from initial stages, such as cloud migration, through to the data journey, offering technical expertise, tailored solutions, and infrastructure to support necessary changes. With an agnostic team and partnerships like the one with IBM, heimr develops Generative AI solutions, promotes data governance, and helps build a digital model tailored to each client’s specific needs.

Digital maturity is not a destination but an ongoing process of adaptation, restructuring, and learning. Generative AI, when integrated into this context, not only accelerates transformation but also expands the possibilities for business operations. The result is the ability to turn data into decisions and technology into value.

Share in the comments what your main challenge is regarding technological implementation and what level of digital maturity your company has achieved!
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In a world where digital boundaries become increasingly blurred, cyberattacks are no longer a possibility but a certainty. Open networks, hybrid environments, remote users, and decentralized applications have created an ecosystem where security can no longer be treated as a product but as an ongoing business strategy.

According to Check Point Research’s third-quarter 2024 report, Brazil saw a 95% increase in the volume of cyberattacks, with over 2,700 incidents weekly. This data is not only alarming but also reflects how digital security structures remain inadequate against the sophistication of modern threats. Additionally, compared to other countries, the cost of cutting-edge technological solutions in Brazil is high, significantly impacting the percentage of investment allocated to cybersecurity.

As a result, many companies lack access to highly granular solutions, often opting for simplified alternatives or even forgoing systems altogether if the appropriate solution is beyond their budget. This creates vulnerabilities, leaving room for attacks in environments with low-complexity protection.

This reality underscores the need for a minimum viable security approach, with solutions tailored to the technological maturity and financial realities of each operation. While these measures may not prevent all threats, they significantly reduce the attack surface.

Vulnerabilities: Where Do Breaches Come From?

Today, software is generally designed with standard security requirements in mind. However, for new applications, bespoke solutions are often needed to meet specific demands. In such cases, a small window of time—sometimes hours or a day—is created during the development of this new structure, making it a prime target for breaches.

In this context, attacks can be categorized as internal or external. Internal attacks are often more dangerous, as they exploit known vulnerabilities within the organization. In these cases, the first layer of access control has already been breached, leading to more severe consequences due to the sensitivity of the targeted information.

To address this, companies frequently hire a Red Team—a group of ethical hackers who understand the organization’s security and emulate the tactics and techniques of real attackers. By mapping system weaknesses, these specialists assist IT teams in strengthening specific defenses.

External cyberattacks, on the other hand, are generally easier to control, particularly in companies with physical offices, as their security often relies on fewer layers, primarily centered around the device and a perimeter firewall. However, the pandemic accelerated office decentralization, exposing a new need: protecting not just the perimeter but the entire digital ecosystem, including endpoints, cloud connections, and distributed data flows.

This new security demand requires tailored solutions, like those developed at heimr, suited to the specifics of each case. Resilience must be at the core of the strategy, and effective security is not just about preventing attacks but ensuring operations continue during a crisis. However, it’s critical to reiterate that, even with these measures, breaches are inevitable. Companies must adopt a structure that ensures data security during attacks.

The two greatest concerns during cyberattacks are operational downtime and data leaks. To mitigate these, beyond an efficient predictive system, a high-availability structure is essential—one capable of isolating or compromising a part of the system without disrupting overall operations.

Security Is Also About Reputation

A successful attack can not only compromise systems but also destroy brand value, undermine customer trust, and damage the credibility of operations. In a competitive and hyperconnected market, the response to a threat is as critical as prevention. Thus, solutions that provide support during an attack are as strategic as firewalls or antivirus software. A structured crisis response can determine a company’s survival and future.

Ultimately, cybersecurity cannot be delegated solely to IT. It must permeate the organization’s culture, processes, and mindset. Interoperability between systems, cross-departmental communication, real-time visibility, and risk-based decision-making are the building blocks of a resilient structure.

At heimr, we believe that protection goes beyond shielding—it’s about ensuring that, even in the face of the inevitable, your company continues to operate with confidence and control.

Security and agility are two of the primary demands placed on companies in the financial sector. The technological transition in recent years has driven organizations in this industry to adopt what is known as digital infrastructure to elevate these critical attributes to a new level and, consequently, remain competitive in the market.

The architectural characteristics of the sector create a challenging environment in terms of security and operations. As a result, even for companies that have efficiently relied on legacy systems for over 30 years, digital infrastructure has become a key solution to overcoming these challenges.

The Importance of Digital Architecture

Regardless of the type of business a company conducts, the digital infrastructure needed to ensure efficiency and a strong return on investment is one that offers high availability and robust security. For this reason, cloud and hybrid cloud solutions have been increasingly adopted in this process.

In this context, the architecture must accommodate workload distribution while also considering regulatory requirements and specific security certifications. For example, institutions handling credit card data require a certification known as PCI DSS (Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard). This means they need a PCI-compliant structure to ensure secure financial transactions, meeting a series of security prerequisites. Failure to comply with these requirements prevents certification.

The type of innovation represented by digital architecture is necessary due to a key metric in the financial market: the cost per transaction. The computational infrastructure employed in the financial sector must ensure availability, as this fosters credibility not only for the institution but for the financial industry as a whole.

Example of the Benefits of Digital Infrastructure in the Financial Market

Among the innovations that demonstrate the significant societal impact of digital infrastructure in the financial market, PIX stands out as the most relatable to the public. Today, people using PIX do not worry about whether the transaction will go through, as the infrastructure supporting this process has made issues rare.

Moreover, in places like Brazil, where urban and virtual crime rates heighten security demands, the architecture used for this purpose must be reinforced to prevent unauthorized access to both bank accounts and user data.

The financial sector’s reliance on robust digital systems operating with high availability provides assurance that transactions will be completed successfully. This is why people do not check their bank account balances daily. The credibility achieved by institutions, ensuring processes run smoothly, provides the necessary security to eliminate constant concern.

Sustainable Evolution of the Financial Sector

Risk analysis is essential in the financial market, and technology is a critical ally in this monitoring. Thus, implementing digital infrastructure in this sector also enables the adoption of Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools for this purpose. Large-scale AI implementation supports the sustainable evolution of companies, significantly reducing the likelihood of operational failures in financial transactions.

All the factors mentioned above converge on what is known as cost-protection. In other words, digital architecture contributes to making all processes in the financial system more efficient. This applies to everything from the quality of customer service to computational efficiency, enabling optimization of the cost-per-transaction metric. This results in fewer charges across the entire financial ecosystem to ensure effective transaction processing.

How to Address Challenges Related to Digital Infrastructure?

Issues involving digital architecture are rarely resolved with a single product. Generally, companies need a solution specifically designed and tailored to meet a particular demand. This is where the role of a technology boutique like heimr.co becomes essential in supporting the daily operations of financial institutions.

Understanding the challenges faced by organizations is the first, and perhaps most critical, step in this process. From this analysis, it is possible to design a solution tailored to the specifics of each case, aimed at resolving a problem, evolving an infrastructure, or exploring other possibilities.

Innovation is necessary because technologies evolve rapidly. It is no coincidence that the financial market advances in terms of innovation more quickly than other sectors, often setting trends for other industries due to the demands financial institutions must meet daily.

Therefore, relying on digital infrastructure is essential to ensure the security and agility of processes, optimize the cost per transaction, and provide not only market competitiveness but also credibility in delivering services and products to clients.